


Touch Starved

by Lunar_L



Series: L'âge de L'amour [3]
Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Chat likes hugs, Don't know what you've got until it's gone, F/M, Marinette didn't mean it, but he's all about the consent
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-13
Updated: 2018-05-13
Packaged: 2019-05-06 09:50:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 870
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14639334
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lunar_L/pseuds/Lunar_L
Summary: Marinette likes to grumble about Chat's overzealous hugs but she finds she misses them once they're gone





	Touch Starved

“Chat!” Marinette shrieked, as the masked hero - who had quickly become her friend on both sides of the mask - scooped her up from behind, pinning her arms to her sides as he hugged her suddenly. She was amazed he could still take her off guard at all considering how often he gave impromptu hugs.

“Oh sorry, Marinette, but these are the absolute best!” He dropped her back to her feet quickly as he went back to the desk to look at the little clay charms she'd made him.

When he'd told her last week that he had started collecting unique charms since a friend had given him a charm bracelet, and expressed annoyance at the lack of original Ladybug and Chat Noir ones, it had given her an idea. So she'd set to work and now watched as he stared euphorically at a tiny red yo-yo and a tiny silver baton, both painted with model paints to add details. It hadn't been easy but once Marinette got something in her head, she just refused to give up. Especially when it was for her friends.

“You have got to stop hugging me like that, you know?” she said, “You'll knock me over or give me a heart attack or something.”

He grinned. “Sorry.”

* * *

“Come and get warm cookies, Chat! I baked them myself.”

After putting the tray down, Marinette braced herself for the inevitable hug as he dashed towards her quickly. “Wow, you made these?” he asked, stopping just short as he reached her and instead taking a small step back as he grabbed a cookie instead.

“Uh, yeah,” she said with a frown, not entirely sure why she was disappointed.

* * *

“Argh! I don't know!” Marinette groaned as she tried to find a movie or series she wanted to watch from the pile of blu-rays he had brought over. “Why don't you just pick?”

“Last time I did you gave me a hard time for being such a weeb,” he said with a shrug, “It was only DragonBall.”

“Well, this time I won't, I'll-” -she bit her lip as her arms twitched a little- “I'll even let you put on that skating one if you want.”

“Really!?” he asked, his entire body springing up from his chair in one move excitedly. She took a slight step towards him, arms opening a little.

“Yeah.” She braced herself again.

“Great!” he shouted and turned suddenly, heading for the mini player to set up the show for them.

“Yeah,” she said, voice catching slightly as she deflated, “great.”

* * *

Marinette's foot tapped rapidly against the concrete as she leant against her balcony railing and chewed at her lip. She considered pacing but it didn't seem to be doing any better lately at burning off her restless energy and she'd only end scuffing her new shoes. She begged herself to relax and forced her leg to stop bouncing, but she felt more tightly wound than she remembered being for some time and there was clearly no coming down from it anytime soon.

A small thud brought her back to the moment and she turned to see Chat sitting forward on her round table, slouched in place and head hung low. “Chat?” she said and he didn't acknowledge her in any way. “ _Chaton?_ Are you...alright?”

He made a non-committal humming noise in response but remained as small and fragile looking as ever. Gingerly making her way towards him, she stretched out her hand to touch his hair, hesitating a little before sinking her fingers into the blond locks and stroking his head.

He jumped a little in response, not having expected it before relaxing into her touch with a sigh. “I'm okay,” he said, “Just a bit down.”

“Need a hug?” she asked him.

“Thought you didn't like it when I hugged you?” he said, glancing up with a pained expression. That dumb kitty. Did he honestly think it was all or nothing?

“You can hug me,” she said, petting his hair more firmly now, “I just don't like being lifted off the ground. I'm short, you know. Heights are scary.” She giggled as his eyes brightened a little at her teasing.

“So I can hug you?” he asked, a small smile starting to appear on his face.

Instead of answering she dropped to her knees beside him and flung her arms around his waist, her face buried in his chest. The second she made contact she melted against him, letting out a long relaxed exhale. Clearly he wasn't the only one who had needed a hug, she realised as she felt the tension of the past two weeks ebb away just by breathing against him like this. She had never been a stranger to hugs, having ready access to them from a number of sources, but she had missed the easy-going way in which Chat reached for a hug whenever something excited him. She had missed the feel of him.

He wrapped his own arms around her instantly, his forehead resting against her hair as he squeezed lightly, in desperate need of the contact to soothe whatever was bothering him, while she hoped against all hopes that it hadn't been because of this stupid misunderstanding.

 


End file.
